allen's ptarmigan 191 



on the Alaskan mainland (except the southeastern coast), northern 

 Yukon, and eastward for a distance not yet determined. Alexander's 

 ptarmigan (L. I. alexandrae-) occurs on Baranof Island, Alaska, and 

 adjacent islands, west to the Shumagin Islands, and south to Porcher 

 Island. This race also may occupy a narrow strip on the mainland 

 from Glacier Bay to central British Columbia. 



Egg dates. — Northern Alaska : 68 records, May 25 to July 10 ; 

 34 records, June 6 to 25. Arctic Canada: 37 records, June 2 to 

 July 7; 19 records, June 10 to 21. 



Labrador Peninsula : 18 records, June 1 to 30 ; 9 records, June 

 6 to 23. 



Newfoundland (alleni) : 11 records, May 12 to June 30; 6 records, 

 June 8 to 12. 



Southern Alaska and British Columbia {alexandrae) : 3 records, 

 May 28, June 25 and 26. 



LAGOPUS LAGOPUS ALLENI Stejneger 



ALLEN'S PTARMIGAN 



HABITS 



The willow ptarmigan of Newfoundland was originally described 

 by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1884) as similar to the common willow 

 ptarmigan, " but distinguished by having the shafts of both primar- 

 ies and secondaries black, and by having the wing-feathers, even some 

 of the coverts, marked and mottled with blackish." He examined 

 only 14 specimens in all, all of which presented the above characters. 

 In a large series (I have 75 in my own collection and have examined 

 a great many in other collections) these characters appear to be 

 none too constant in Newfoundland birds and to crop out occasion- 

 ally in willow ptarmigan elsewhere, with a great range of individual 

 variation. In this connection it is interesting to note what Harry 

 S. Swarth (1924) has to saj' about the willow ptarmigan of southern 

 Alaska : 



It is of interest to note in alexandrae the frequent presence of black shafts 

 on the primaries, sometimes on secondaries and greater coverts. This character 

 has been considered an important feature of the Newfoundland subspecies 

 (L. I. alleni), but obviously it can not be used as a feature characteristic of that 

 race alone. In an immature female from Prince of Wales Island, which has 

 acquired the winter flight feathers, not only are primaries and secondaries 

 with distinct black shafts, but there are large, tear-shaped spots of black near 

 the tips of all the primaries and most of the secondaries. Furthermore, the 

 primaries have a black " freckling " over much of their surface, and the greater 

 coverts are also marked with black, though to a lesser degree. 



Dr. Hart Merriam (1885) has called attention to the great varia- 

 tion in the extent of black in a large series of wings sent to him 



